# Are Cuban cigars available in the Dominican Republic?



## Tenor CS (May 1, 2008)

My wife's family is pondering doing a big "let's rent a beach house for a week and get all of us together" vacation in the Dominican Republic. Of course, I immediately think, "Ooh, cigar field trip!"

So, are Cuban cigars available in the DR?

If not, why? Does DR have an embargo on Cuba like the USA does?

Or might it just be a business sense thing of "we make cigars, too, and we don't want to let in outside competition?"


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## krisko (Jul 28, 2007)

Tenor CS said:


> Or might it just be a business sense thing of "we make cigars, too, and we don't want to let in outside competition?"


I don't know if CCs are available there but it would be for this reason if they weren't. Fuente probably exerts a lot of power over there. Not to mention, if you did find CCs over there they probably aren't genuine.

The embargo is a US thing...no other country is that stupid as far as I know.


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## 68TriShield (May 15, 2006)

Theres a 99% chance that if you do find CC's in the D.R.,they will be fake.Thats being generous with the 99%.


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## CigarmanTim (Apr 5, 2008)

krisko said:


> The embargo is a US thing...no other country is that stupid as far as I know.


lol Yep. That square peg is going to fit in that round hole damnit


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## MNWanger (Jun 2, 2008)

Was in the DR a couple years ago (Punta Cana). You will see "cuban" cigars there. Basically all of the ones I saw were fakes. Plenty of them on the beach, in glass-top boxes. If you can talk them down to a good price, it may be worth the novelty of having a glasstop box of Cohibas. I had a ~7yr old one (Fauxhiba) a few weeks back, and it was actually pretty good.

As it is, the price of cigars at the resort was pretty high (and they were only Dominicans). If you do an upgraded service at a resort, you may be able to get cigars for free. I brought my own to smoke there, anyways.

As for Fuente having influence...not any more than any other manufacturer. Makers there get a tax break for exporting their goods. To sell them in the country, they have to re-import them to the DR (odd, but that's what I remember reading) to sell them, which drives up the price. And be aware of fake Fuentes there, too.

Hope that helped.


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

68TriShield said:


> Theres a 99% chance that if you do find CC's in the D.R.,they will be fake.Thats being generous with the 99%.


Conservative figure indeed.
Might be more like 99.9%.
Or, better yet, like in the tv shows, "I am 150% sure that child is not mine". How the heck does one pass 100%?:r

I might add, same stat goes for Dominican cigars sold on that island.


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## thebiglebowski (Dec 19, 2005)

Blueface said:


> Conservative figure indeed.
> Might be more like 99.9%.
> Or, better yet, like in the tv shows, "I am 150% sure that child is not mine". How the heck does one pass 100%?:r
> 
> I might add, same stat goes for Dominican cigars sold on that island.


i'm probably wrong, but didn't the DR place an embargo on Cuba as well? more for the shenanigans that castro and che tried to pull over there? viva la revolucion?

like i said, i'm probably wrong...


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## mikeyj23 (Feb 25, 2007)

Someone correct me if I'm in left field, but I think there was a recent thread about this and someone pointed out that since cigars are a fairly large part of DR's export, there's _no_ reason why they would voluntarily sell real Cuban cigars there. Just like when I lived in Kansas there was so much Kansas beef and everyone wanted to preserve that market, so you just never saw Japanese beef on the shelves.


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## Scimmia (Sep 22, 2006)

Except I do remember reading that it's tough to find a genuine Fuente, etc in the DR also, as they're made for export. :hn


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## ellisb (May 24, 2008)

MNWanger said:


> And be aware of fake Fuentes there, too.


A friend of mine vacationed there and brought be back a box of Fuentes, in a glass top box.... As fake as fake could be, complete with beetles... I could not break the news to him.

Buyer Beware,
-EB


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

mikeyj23 said:


> Someone correct me if I'm in left field, but I think there was a recent thread about this and someone pointed out that since cigars are a fairly large part of DR's export, there's _no_ reason why they would voluntarily sell real Cuban cigars there. Just like when I lived in Kansas there was so much Kansas beef and everyone wanted to preserve that market, so you just never saw Japanese beef on the shelves.





Scimmia said:


> Except I do remember reading that it's tough to find a genuine Fuente, etc in the DR also, as they're made for export. :hn





ellisb said:


> A friend of mine vacationed there and brought be back a box of Fuentes, in a glass top box.... As fake as fake could be, complete with beetles... I could not break the news to him.
> 
> Buyer Beware,
> -EB


Yup.
There is everything on Earth to be found there but all fakes.
They peddle glass top Cohibas like they are going out of style.
They sell both Dominican and Cuban.
None real.
Best to just bring your own sticks there.


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## krisko (Jul 28, 2007)

Isn't there an Opus X that you can only buy in the DR? Do you buy it in a duty free zone or something? And what about tours...does anybody arrange a tobacco tour and can you get some tasty samples?


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## Padron42 (Sep 18, 2007)

An idea for you if you're renting a house down there for a week. My cousin had a wedding in the dominican and wanted to give all the men in it some cubans but knew the cubans were fake there so she had them shipped to the house they were staying at a few days before she left home and they got there alright.


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## Tenor CS (May 1, 2008)

Padron42 said:


> An idea for you if you're renting a house down there for a week. My cousin had a wedding in the dominican and wanted to give all the men in it some cubans but knew the cubans were fake there so she had them shipped to the house they were staying at a few days before she left home and they got there alright.


Now THERE's an idea! Thanks, Padron42! I might just do that.


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## MNWanger (Jun 2, 2008)

I just remembered that the duty free shops in the airports might be a good place to look for real Cubans. The one in Punta Cana was very good.


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## Firridge (Feb 5, 2008)

Take your own CC or NC. When you find a cigar worth smoking you will be saying "I'm not going to pay (Fill in the Blank) for that cigar that I can buy in the states for (Fill in the Blank)". Bottom line, lots of fakes and high prices. The Duty Free out of Punta Cana is an option to slip in a couple of CC's, not that anyone would do that or anything.


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## Only Fuentes (Jan 21, 2008)

krisko said:


> Isn't there an Opus X that you can only buy in the DR? Do you buy it in a duty free zone or something? And what about tours...does anybody arrange a tobacco tour and can you get some tasty samples?


 No, there is absolutely no such Opus X. _ALL Opus X and every other Fuente for that matter and made in the manufacturing duty free zone and are for export only._ You can't buy them on the island inside the duty free zone other than the airport, etc... To buy a legit Opus in the D.R. it first has to be exported and re-imported with an additional duty added to the price. I know that you have to be invited to tour/visit Chateau Fuente and can't just show up for a tour. There are however several lesser known cigar factories that are more than happy to arrange a tour for you. It is ironic when you think about it : the D.R. is 2nd in the world for cigar exports and 99.99% of all cigars you see there are fakes. It's a beautiful island and just take any smokes you might want with you and relax. Relax and enjoy looking at all the Opas X, Cohibos and my personal favorite : the elusive Dan carlos.:r


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## Mullet (Oct 22, 2007)

Padron42 said:


> An idea for you if you're renting a house down there for a week. My cousin had a wedding in the dominican and wanted to give all the men in it some cubans but knew the cubans were fake there so she had them shipped to the house they were staying at a few days before she left home and they got there alright.


that's a great idea.


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## bobarian (Oct 1, 2007)

I believe there are also charter flights available from DR, if you are so inclined. :tu


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## Jbailey (Nov 9, 2006)

Blueface said:


> Or, better yet, like in the tv shows, "I am 150% sure that child is not mine". How the heck does one pass 100%?:r.


I'm with you 110% Carlos!


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## fsjonsey (May 23, 2008)

Only Fuentes said:


> the elusive Dan carlos.


:r:r:r:r:r:r:r:r:r:r:r:r
And I thought "Don Brotto" was the worst cigar name I've ever heard.


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## Moro (Jun 30, 2008)

Yeah, but do not, I repeat DO NOT buy from the bloke that goes: "Ye're interested in some cuban cigars, there?" while relaxing at the beach. Buy them at decent, respectable places (ask around at the hotel and places were ye won't get scammed as a tourist).


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## bobarian (Oct 1, 2007)

Moro said:


> Yeah, but do not, I repeat DO NOT buy from the bloke that goes: "Ye're interested in some cuban cigars, there?" while relaxing at the beach. Buy them at decent, respectable places (ask around at the hotel and places were ye won't get scammed as a tourist).


I thought those guys selling Cohiba's out of duffle bags had great prices due to the low overhead.:r:r:bn


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## KingJunior (Jun 1, 2007)

MNWanger said:


> I just remembered that the duty free shops in the airports might be a good place to look for real Cubans. The one in Punta Cana was very good.


I second this. Bought a box Montecristo 2 on my way out of the punta cana airport.

While in the resort I couldn't find any cc's. Went to the shopping district right outside of the resort and there weren't any there either. The name brand DR's were more expensive than in the US, but I did find some brands I never heard/had before that were great.


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## chenvt (Apr 12, 2008)

The cubans will be fake, but if you're lucky, you'll have that rare opportunity to buy an authentic cohibo


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## boonedoggle (Jun 23, 2006)

When I was in the DR last year, there were ton's of beach cigar vendor's...many of them were quit agressive sales people. Of course, I didn't buy any, but I did find several "butts" on the beach of Cohiba's and Monty's. Upon examining them, every last one of them had super-chop filler in them. Almost looked like sawdust.


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## zipa (May 24, 2008)

If you want authentinc cigars, buy them at the airport or the factories. At least La Aurora has (well, had some years back, can't be sure anymore) guided tours which of course include a visit to the factory shop. I seem to recall that the prices were quite reasonable there.


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## 44MAG (Mar 9, 2008)

Moro said:


> Yeah, but do not, I repeat DO NOT buy from the bloke that goes: "Ye're interested in some cuban cigars, there?" while relaxing at the beach. Buy them at decent, respectable places (ask around at the hotel and places were ye won't get scammed as a tourist).


:tpd:im sure if you stick to the well established 4star resorts(like atlantis in bahama) you can get some cc's however youll pay for them!:hn


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## hangman (Jun 25, 2008)

My parents brought me back some glass top Cohiba Robustos r) from the Dominican which actually didnt taste too bad (I've had much worse) but the nagging voice in my head saying "what's actually in this cigar?" makes them impossible to enjoy so I threw them out. They did bring back some legit Guantanameras which were actually quite a nice mild smoke, considering how cheap they are for Cubans.


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## Shervin (May 29, 2008)

Now thats a damn shame...being Dominican, it hurts to see what unscrupulous individuals would do to "earn" a buck. On my next visit I will make it a point to find a reputable dealer of CC's or domestics for that matter!!!

It just cannot be that there is not ONE decent location that could be trusted outside of the duty free zone....rest assured BOTL...it is there if your looking hard enough.


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## audio1der (Mar 8, 2006)

I bought Monte 2's and Cohiba Robustos while in the DR.
Let me tell you how it feels to buy "Cubans" in the DR: Spend some time in jail as the community b*tch, getting bent over every night, then get labeled as a child molester and get beaten within an inch of your life by some of the angriest people on earth.
I think that sums of the violation I felt.
:hn

Habanos does list an LCDH in the capitol city (name escapes me) but for all intents and purposes, no- you cannot get real Cubans in the DR.


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